Building Andy's Range: The History of the Blair Rifle Range - BC Labour Heritage ...
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Building Andy’s Range: The History of the Blair Rifle Range
Introduction
As commuters race along the four lanes of Mt Seymour
Parkway they pass a stretch of bramble-covered chain link fence
with little thought of what lies beyond. Many call the overgrown
acreage, frequented by teenage party-goers, “the rifle range” but
few know much more than that. The history of this place—the
Blair Rifle Range in North Vancouver—and the people who once
lived here is a story that has been overlooked. It deserves to be
told.
Caught in the politics and clashes of ideology of the
Depression, hundreds of Canada’s most unfortunate citizens lived
and worked on the 110 acres in North Vancouver for two and one
-half years. These marginalized men became part of one of the
largest “make work” projects in the history of Canada simply
because they were single and jobless. The activism and
experiences of thousands of men like those at the Blair Rifle
Range fuelled a generation of populism and resistance in British
Columbia.
Thousands of hours of labour performed for little pay and
less dignity generated a valuable asset for the Canadian military.
Due to its central location, relatively flat topography and
proximity to both urban Vancouver and forested parkland, the
Blair Rifle Range remains a prime spot for development. Yet,
forty-five years since it closed the Blair Rifle Range is an
overgrown and contentious wasteland. Except for one two-year
period, it has never generated a penny of tax revenue for the
municipality.
Location and Early History
The portion of the District of North Vancouver between
the Seymour River in the west and Indian Arm to the east
Front photo: “Fill at west end”, photograph appended to Works Progress Report, Blair
Rifle Range at North Vancouver BC, August 31, 1934. Library and Archives Canada.
2
(referred to as “Seymour”) has often been regarded as a cache of
land destined for housing development. Studies and proposals to
develop the area beginning in the 1960s have resulted in heated
public debate and even court cases. At the core of the
controversy are
the divergent
values of
preserving
forested
recreational land
and large scale
housing and
commercial
development.
Within the
Seymour area a
644 acre parcel of
land owned by
Canada Mortgage
and Housing
Corporation
(CMHC) called
“Northlands”.
CMHC is the
Figure 1 - Northlands property is divided into five
federal crown
sec ons; the Blair Rifle Range is Sec on 1
corporation
formed after the
Second World War to secure housing for returning soldiers.
Today it acts as Canada’s housing agency and is involved in
many aspects of housing policy. The southernmost parcel of
Northlands (labeled “1” in Figure 1) is the110 acre portion once
occupied by the Blair Rifle Range.
Northlands has been part of the District of North
Vancouver (DNV) since the municipality was established in
3
1891. A 1926 aerial photo examined on behalf of CMHC in 1972
showed “that much of the site had been recently logged and
burned” (Gartner Lee, 8), a standard practice of the era.
Northlands was expropriated from DNV in 1927 by the
Department of National Defence (DND) to construct a Rifle
Range, but only the most southern portion was used for that
purpose. The District was paid $25,000, although it asked for
double that amount. (Richard Parr, DNV Assistant Municipal
Solicitor, Report to Council, September 19, 1996)
In 1929, Canada like most western nations, was plunged
into economic crisis. Historians call the Great Depression “one of
the worst disasters of the twentieth century” (Brennan, in
Howard). Times were tough for everyone including Canada’s
military. Canadian Forces Director of History Colonel CP Stacey
commented it was “fair to say that economy was the dominant
consideration in the military policy of every Canadian
government until after 1935”. (Stacey, 32)
Despite tough finances, the North Vancouver Rifle Range
formally opened and was given the ‘Blair’ moniker in 1930, to
honour Major R.M. Blair, a prize winning sharp shooter from the
Seaforth Highlanders in Vancouver. (Roy, 29)
In June 1931 British Columbia had 28% unemployment.
Single unemployed men were more severely impacted by the
Depression than any other group. They could not find
employment and were not entitled to relief payments (the
forerunner of today’s welfare) if they lived at home after the age
of 16. Not wanting to be a burden on their families, thousands of
young men congregated in Vancouver from across Canada, living
in “hobo jungles” along the railway tracks. Their transient status
made them ineligible for relief. They joined other men who were
veterans of the First World War and seasonal workers. Single
unemployed men were the lowest priority of local and provincial
governments dealing with a long list of those needing help to
4
survive the Depression. As their numbers grew, the homeless
men were courted by left-leaning radical organizations, and this
compelled action from government.
When local governments and provincially run relief
programs failed, DND became responsible for managing a
national scheme of Unemployed Relief Camps in 1933. The
military saw an opportunity to finance “construction projects of
military importance” through the use of unemployment relief
funds. (Stacey, 33) The Camp scheme was drawn up and
overseen by General Andrew McNaughton from Defence
Headquarters in Ottawa.
A total of 162 DND Relief Projects were established in
Canada; 73 of them in British Columbia. Over the course of the
Unemployed Relief Camp program 62,000 men were placed in
Camps in British Columbia (Gorman, 119, Lefresne, 177). Most
projects involved road and airfield construction. Four were tasked
with building or expanding Rifle Ranges for the military.
The Blair Rifle Range Camp was the largest of the DND’s
Rifle Range projects. (LeFresne, 37) Other DND Relief Projects
in the Vancouver area were located at White Rock (highway
construction) and Point Grey (for unemployed members of the
militia only). The remainder were much further away from
population centres such as the Fraser Valley and the Interior.
Under the terms of the DND Camps, the men were
provided with bunkhouse accommodation, military issued
clothing, military rations, medical and dental care. The clothing
provided included army garments “nearing the point of
condemnation” that had been in storage since 1918. The Seaforth
Highlanders saw the donation of their worn out coats and trousers
to unemployment relief projects as a way to get “newer” stock for
themselves. (Roy, 36)
Work at the DND Camps was 8 hours a day, five and one
5
half days per week. Labourers were given an allowance of
twenty cents a day, and the total cost per worker was to be kept at
less than $1.00 per day. Camp Superintendants and other
supervisory personnel were drawn from the ranks of the
unemployed, and paid up to $150 per month. The government
said registration in the Camps was voluntary, but the men had no
other choice because if they refused to go, they would not receive
relief. They often referred to themselves as “slave labour”,
abandoned by government.
The assignment of single unemployed men to isolated
camps did little to quell their radicalism. In fact, it provided them
with more grievances and made them easy targets for political
and worker organizations.
The Blair Rifle Range Unemployment Relief Project
The Blair Rifle Range Unemployment Relief Camp
(Project No. 134) was opened on
January 4, 1934 and closed on
June 25, 1936. It housed about 75
labourers and 15 civilians at a
time, but like all of the other
camps, the roster of men was
constantly changing. Some camp
residents were transferred, others
left on their own accord and others
were evicted for various reasons,
including union organizing. The
final tally for the Blair Camp
showed its occupants performed
55,083 man-days of work over a
2009 Google Earth image.
two and one-half year period.
Reports and detailed statistics on the work performed at Blair
6
were submitted monthly to Ottawa, with great attention to detail.
Two files have supplied the bulk of the detail about what
happened at Blair during those years, and these are listed in the
bibliography. The Works Progress Reports included a large
number of maps to which photographs had been attached. Names
of individuals who were present at the Camp between March and
June 1936 are taken from these files.
The monthly reports contained statistics and brief written
summaries of the work accomplished and were submitted to DND
Headquarters in Ottawa over the signature of the Military District
Commanding Officer. Everything from the number of linear feet
of roadway graded to the amount of dirt excavated was recorded
and sent to Ottawa each month. This precise record-keeping has
proven to be a rich source of information about the workings of
the Camp and the men who lived there. The archived plans from
1934 indicate that a good part of the military rifle range was
already in existence when the Relief Camp was established.
Seven firing berms, each at 100 yard intervals, plus two target
areas were in place. A Caretaker’s residence was close to Keith
Road (now Mt Seymour Parkway) and the Competitor’s Building
paralleled the old road.
The Blair Rifle Range Unemployment Relief Project was
tasked with clearing, excavating and grading a new 16 foot wide
road east of the old road to allow extension of the existing firing
berms. The areas between each firing berm were to be filled and
flattened with soil taken from other parts of the site. The relief
workers were also to construct their own Camp for
accommodation. Thirteen buildings and perimeter fences were
completed by October 1935. The buildings were located in the
southeast corner of the property.
Project No. 134 was administered by the Department of
7
Clare Sherwood, Camp Foreman
Clare Everard Sherwood was a civil engineer who was 47 years old when he
became the Foreman of Project 134 in January 1934. Born in New
Brunswick, Sherwood worked for the District of North Vancouver between
1923 and 1932 as the Superintendant of Works He was married with three
sons and lived in the central Lonsdale area.
On December 16, 1932 the District entered bankruptcy and a Commissioner
was appointed to manage its affairs. One week a=er assuming the job,
Commissioner Charles Tisdall cut the District’s Department of Works to a
“skeleton staff of six men”. (Davis, 70) Sherwood may have lost his District
Engineering job as the municipality faced its own financial crisis.
Relief Camp Foremen were unemployed civilians nominated by the
Engineering InsCtute of Canada. Sherwood’s engineering background would
have been useful at Blair where road construcCon was a major component of
the work performed.
Sherwood must have made some friends in government, because a memo
placed on the project files from the Deputy Minister of Labour on April 24,
1936 directed DND’s Chief of the General Staff that Sherwood is “to be
conCnued to be employed” as Foreman of the Blair Rifle Range Project.
Sherwood moved to Lethbridge Alberta in the 1940s where he worked for
the Ministry of Transport.
-compiled from historic records including
City Directories, 1921 census,
National Defence’s Military District 11 based in Esquimalt.
General E.C. Ashton was commanding officer of the District.
Ashton later became Chief of the General Staff at Ottawa
Headquarters in 1935.
The Project Superintendent at the Blair Rifle Range was
Clare Everard Sherwood, who remained at the project for the full
two and one-half years. Two other civilians were also at the
project for the entire period: W. Hutchinson and C Waddup.
8Sherwood’s biography is listed at left. The identities of
Hutchinson and Waddup are more tenuous and are described
later. The Superintendant (Foreman) supervised four Gangbosses,
1 First Aid Attendant, 3 Machine Operators and Drivers (after
May 1935), 3 Cooks and 1 Clerk. Seventy-five labourers were
chosen by the District Officer Commanding (D.O.C.) of the
Military District, in consultation with the Employment Service of
Canada.
Initially, the Blair Rifle Range Camp workers were
housed in the Competitors Building until the first camp
accommodation was completed. General Ashton was optimistic
in January 1934 that the project would be complete by
September, but as the Depression wore on, so did the Rifle Range
Project. The first task was to build a new road and begin clearing
and construction of buildings. Despite heavy rain in March 1934,
General Ashton reported that “good progress has been made on
the new roadway, and also on the construction of the camp.
Work on the grading further up the Range will be commenced
this month.”
“Fill on west end of 600 yd F.P.” Photograph appended to Works Pro-
gress Report, Blair Rifle Range at North Vancouver, February 28, 1935.
9A system of hand-operated dump cars running on narrow
gauge railway tracks was used to move fill from one part of the
Range to another. On May 10, 1934 Gen. Ashton reported that
“track had been laid from the east side of the range to the 300 yd
firing point on the short range, in order that the crib at that point
may be filled.” The March 1936 Works Progress Report reveals
that the steel rails were provided by both the Municipality of
North Vancouver and the Public Works Department (provincial
government). The municipality also provided 9 dump cars (4
complete and 5 with parts missing) in “fair” condition. North
Vancouver District also provided a large amount of miscellaneous
equipment, such as switches, spikes and axles. It appears that
Sherwood’s connection with the bankrupt District Municipality of
North Vancouver paid some benefits to the Blair Project.
In April 1934, Ashton reported, “the new roadway has
been cleared throughout the length of the Range, and grading is in
progress”. Ashton also noted the camp construction program was
complete.
“Hauling firewood with truck”, Photo appended to Works Progress Report,
Blair Rifle Range at North Vancouver February 28, 1935. Library and Ar-
10By July 1934 the new road was completed, except for
ditching. With the completion of the Camp facilities and the new
road, work turned to excavation and filling around the firing
berms. Some men were put to work on building maintenance,
tool repairs and gardening.
A team of horses was hired and worked for 211 days
between April 1934 and March 1935, but unlike many other
Unemployment Relief Projects, the Blair Rifle Range was not
supplied with any equipment by the Public Works Department.
This became a source of disgruntlement among management.
Each month a mostly blank page in the project’s monthly report
to Ottawa was titled “P.W.D Equipment” with the description
below in block caps: “NIL”.
In late 1934 General Ashton pressured Ottawa to
supplement the manual labour at Blair with machinery, and
repeatedly noted that work was being “carried out entirely by
hand”. In his May 11, 1935 report to DND Headquarters, Ashton
threported that no equipment had yet arrived:
…the work has been handicapped to some degree due to
lack of additional transport, as the length of haul now
is really too great for the efficient use of light track
and dump cars. It is very desirable at the truck for
which provision was made in the current period’s pro
forma be supplied at the earliest date possible.
In March 1935, DND supplied one 1.5 yard Ford dump
truck to the project. In a memo to District Headquarters in
Esquimalt in May 1935, Col EJC Schmidlin of the Directorate of
Engineer Services in
Ottawa directed that all future reports should note the
presence of the DND supplied equipment. From that point on,
the reports read like a scoreboard: DND 1 PWD 0. In July 1935
a second DND truck arrived. DND 2 PWD 0.
11Work continued with the limited equipment until January
1936 when the Blair Project benefited from the closure of Project
26 in Hope, where an airfield construction had been undertaken.
A tractor was shipped to North Vancouver, where it was given a
“thorough overhaul”. They also received grading equipment from
Project 26. The new tractor enabled DND engineers to
contemplate a “fresh program of work”, however “cold weather”
in February 1936 meant the tractor was “unable to operate”.
By the end of the Project, 18,000 cubic yards of material
had been excavated and placed as fill between the firing points.
(Brig MacDonald to DND July 27, 1936) The fill was often
described as “solid rock” and “hard pan”. This is in addition to
land clearing, camp construction and road building that was
undertaken. The monthly reports also itemized the cost savings
“A View of the Camp”. Canada. Dept. of NaConal Defence / Library and
realized by the military by using relief labour for the project. At
the end of the project, it was reported that “the estimated cost of
the work actually performed if it had been executed by contract or
day labour at prevailing rates” was $68,796. Brig. MacDonald
12concluded that “the establishment of the Relief Camp at Blair
Rifle Range has enabled very valuable work to be performed in
connection with the development of that area.” (letter McDonald
to Ottawa, July 27, 1936)
Some of the buildings constructed were “semi-
permanent” and were clad with siding. After the first year, Blair
Camp included an Office, Hospital, Wash House, Cookhouse and
Diner, Wood Shed, Watchmen’s Hut, Meat House, Store Room
and Bunkhouses. A miniature community was in place.
Relief Camp Unrest and Strikes
During 1934 and 1935, Relief Camp Workers in British
Columbia, and other parts of the country, formed the Relief
Camp Workers’ Union to organize and represent men in the
Camps. The centre of the Union organization was in Vancouver.
The disgruntled Relief Camp workers referred to themselves as
“inmates” and the DND projects as “slave camps”. The Camp
workers had many specific complaints but it was “the
hopelessness of life these people are kicking about, not the camp
conditions.” (Arthur Evans, quoted in Howard, 44)
A list of demands was drawn up, including an end to the
twenty-cent-a-day system, to be paid regular wages, Workers
Compensation coverage, recognition of Camp Committees, a
system of unemployment insurance and the right to vote. A short
strike took place in December 1934, with the men agreeing to
return to the camps after some minor concessions were reached
with BC Premier Duff Pattullo.
A full camp walkout was organized for April 1935. By
April 14, 1400 men had congregated in Vancouver (Gorman,
129). The strikers received widespread support from the
community, including the City of Vancouver, religious, business
and trade union organizations. Parades, “tag days” and rallies
were organized through April and May 1935. According to
13police reports, a May Day rally at Stanley Park drew a crowd of
30,000. (Kealey, 268)
The workers at the Blair Rifle Range Camp were involved
to some degree with the strike. Based upon the Camp’s monthly
reports, the complement of men working at the Blair Rifle Range
was relatively stable, except for the March to June 1935 period
when work and residency fell off by about 30 percent.
General Ashton reported to Ottawa that in March 1935 at
the Blair Rifle Range, “fair progress only was made…due to…the
attitude of the men in the camp”. During the early days of the
April 1935 strike Ashton reported to Ottawa that “the strength of
this camp was low”.
“...fair progress only In March 1935, 2,216
man-days of work was
was made...due to...the performed, in April it fell to
attitude of the men in 1,663 and 1,549 in May. The
amount of excavation work
the camp” completed had dropped
considerably in the first four
General Ashton to months of 1935, a further
Ottawa, March 1935 indication that some of the
men had left the Blair Rifle
Range Camp to join the strike
in Vancouver.
In North Vancouver, the community rallied around the
Relief Camp strikers. A Mothers’ Week Committee was formed
in May of 1935 “for the purpose of giving a real home cooked
meal to as many relief camp strikers as possible”. (North Shore
Press, May 10, 1935). The same month a committee of fifteen
citizens was elected to force the government to institute a policy
of work and wages, as well as the abolition of the relief camps.
Three North Vancouver women were commended in the local
newspaper for donating magazines and jig-saw puzzles to
14unemployment relief camps. (North Shore Press, May 17, 1935)
On May 24, 1935 the St John’s Churchmen’s Club in
North Vancouver passed a resolution “favoring abolition of the
present relief camp system and suggested as a substitute, a
scheme of useful work at reasonable and living wages”. It was
also reported that the CCF (Co-operative Commonwealth
Federation) had hosted a dinner and “various forms of
amusement” for twenty-five relief camp “boys”. (North Shore
Press, May 24, 1935)
While generally critical of the radical elements in the
Relief Camp Workers’ Union, an editorial in the North Shore
Press (April 19, 1935) conceded:
“The record amount of money contributed through the tag
day staged in Vancouver on Saturday last by the 1700
men in the city from the camps for unemployed men in
British Columbia demonstrates the sympathetic
interest that the general public entertains for all of the
men whom circumstances have compelled to avail
themselves of the accommodation provided by the
camps.”
Two months into the 1935 Relief Camp strike many of the
men headed to Ottawa in the hopes of meeting the Prime Minister
and presenting their grievances. Their trip via freight train was
stopped in Regina where on July 1, 1935 a riot erupted. One
striker and one policeman were killed and scores more injured.
The “On-To-Ottawa Trek” and its connection to the Unemployed
Relief Camp program are famously documented in Canada’s
labour and social history. In 2010 the 75th Anniversary of the
Trek was recognized with a plaque at Crab Park in Vancouver.
Considerable archival records exist for this period of
social upheaval in British Columbia, including RCMP
surveillance reports, testimony before the Regina Riot Inquiry
15Commission, copies of the Relief Camp Worker Union newsletter
and both mainstream and radical newspapers. There are also a
number of oral histories by the strike leaders. Yet, despite the
sizeable impact of the events, the Blair Rifle Range Camp is not
mentioned in any of these documents. In the absence of
specific evidence, the reasons for the lack of radical leadership by
the Blair Rifle Range Camp requires hypothetical reasoning.
One explanation may be as simple as good food.
Complaints from many of the other camps focussed on the quality
of the military rations. Often camp food was considered to be of
poor quality and minimal volume. The cooks at Blair may have
been more talented than elsewhere.
Being close to a populated centre is another possible
reason. Almost all of the other Unemployed Relief Camps in
British Columbia were located away from the urban Vancouver
area, in places such as Agassiz, Nelson and Boston Bar and it is
from these locations that most of the strike leaders originated.
The workers chosen for the Blair Camp may have been
considered more trustworthy to be in a location just a few miles
away from the radical organization leadership.
In fact, the North Shore Press (April 19, 1935) suggested
moving the Camps closer to populated centres may be a way of
quelling unrest:
“If the governments were to establish a series of auxiliary
camps in the vicinity of centres of population and to
give the men in outlying camps the privilege in
contingents, of residence in an auxiliary camp for a
few weeks say twice a year by this means satisfying to
some extent their wishes for an occasional return to
city life, it is possible that the men would find their lot
much more endurable and that these strikes...would
disappear.”
16tocal Committee
Gradually, as the Relief Seeks Abolition
Camp Strike wound 0f Relief Ca a
down, unemployed men
returned to the Camps.
By July 1935, Brigadier
MacDonald wrote to BC’s
Attorney General that
there were 1308 vacancies
in British Columbia
camps, however only 7
of those were at the Blair
Rifle Range. (Letter from
MacDonald to Sloan, July
4, 1935). Works Progress Reports showed the amount of work
performed at Blair began to climb again in June 1935, reaching a
high of 2,238 man-days in January 1936. In June 1936 when the
Blair Rifle Range Camp was shut down, only 377 man-days of
work was performed.
Archival records show that in the last three months of the
project, 103 individuals resided at Blair Rifle Range. These
records provide some valuable insight to the demographics of the
Camp at the time and may be used to describe the population that
lived there.
The ages of the relief workers during that period ranged
from 19 to 62. Of the 99 residents with a nationality listed, 57
were British (including Scotch and Welsh), 26 were Canadian, 10
Irish and 2 Scandinavians, demonstrating the Colonial face of
British Columbia in the era. They came from a wide variety of
backgrounds, most commonly labourers and loggers. ‘Barber’,
‘Fireman’, ‘Waiter’ and ‘Blacksmith’ were also listed as usual
occupations. Most of those at the Camp during this period (81)
worked as labourers, but some of the unemployed were put to
17work in the kitchen, as watchmen and in other service jobs.
Civilian staff worked as Gangbosses, Cooks, Machine Operators
and Clerks. About half of the residents (57) in the last three
months of 1936 had been there for less than 6 months. Forty-
three had been at Blair for longer periods, some for 2½ years.
Many of the Blair Rifle Range residents may have been
veterans of World War 1, and therefore comfortable with the
military discipline of the camps. Foreman Sherwood had enlisted
in the Canadian Army in June 1918 although the war ended soon
after. To test this hypothesis we used the Blair Camp records to
identify individuals who were between 18 and 45 years of age
between 1914 and 1918. These names were then compared with
names in the database of soldiers of the First World War held by
Library and Archives Canada (LAC). By comparing birth dates,
residence and the listed ‘usual occupation’ from the Blair
Registers with the LAC database, possible connections were
made. Searches of historic City Directories of the Vancouver
area, the 1921 Census of Canada, provincial death records and
newspaper obituaries were also conducted. Many of the
Unemployed Relief Camp residents were transient and therefore
difficult to trace. Additionally, having spent time in a Relief
Camp was a social stigma not often shared in obituaries.
18Identifying individual archival records and comparing
them to relief camp residents was further complicated by the fact
that the Blair Rolls included only initials and no first names. The
effort to identify Camp individuals focussed on those with
unusual surnames and two first initials. Together these archival
records help to paint an intimate portrait of some of these men.
Photos of the Blair Rifle Range Camp paint a rather bucolic
image. The campsite appears to be well organized with electricity
and telephone lines. The grounds were maintained like a tiny
village with flower beds and vegetable gardens. Surrounded on
all sides by forest the camp may well have been a pleasant place,
despite the hard manual labour required on the Range. The credit
for this likely goes to the Camp administration. As the Camp
reports from 1934 and 1935 show, management was willing to
put pressure on DND to supply equipment to the project in order
to lessen the burden on the workers.
The Project No. 134 Camp made a significant
contribution to the expansion and improvement of the Blair Rifle
Range for the military. The men who passed through the Camp
to wait out the Depression, performing hard manual labour for
little compensation, were an important part of Canada’s history.
Closing the Camp
When RB Bennett’s Conservative government was
defeated by Mackenzie-King’s Liberals in 1935, the Depression
was easing and the DND Relief Camps were slated to close. The
Blair Rifle Range Project ended on June 25, 1936.
In the months between March and June, 1936 as work
continued, DND also turned its attention to the re-assignment of
civilian and relief workers to other locations. Nationally DND
was directed to transfer as many men as possible to the railways
to work in a relief capacity. (Gorman, 159) At the end of June,
1936, half of the remaining Blair Rifle Range residents were re-
assigned to railway work. Five were declared unfit.
19This 1941 picture shows "A" Company of the 2nd BaHalion Westminster Regi-
ment at Blair Range, North Vancouver, BC for machine gun pracCce. hHp://
www.surreyhistory.ca/berry.html
In his final report to Ottawa, Brigadier MacDonald concluded
...this Rifle Range is now fully equipped for the use of 24
targets at all ranges, with the exception until the old
Competitors Hut is removed 12 targets only can be made
use of from the 1000 yard firing point.
The Camp’s other buildings were left on site for use by
the military who would train there. Mechanical equipment such
as the tractors, trucks and graders as well as engineering tools
were also left on site for the future use of the military.
1936-1968
An isolated location on the North Shore with road access,
the Blair Rifle Range was an ideal location for the military. Its
history in the Second World War, and the surrounding years,
reads like a ‘who is who’ of military units in the Vancouver area.
The famed Westminster Regiment used the Range for training,
and because “there was no official transport…a privately owned
lumber-truck and an ancient Ford truck would be brought into
20service to convey The Regiment to Blair Range. These would
always be hopelessly overloaded and usually badly overheating
on the way.” (Wilks, p 38)
During the war years (1939-1945) Blair was used for rifle,
machine gun, small arms and grenade training 12 to 14 hours per
day, 52 weeks a year (Vaughan, 8). It was valued for its size,
being the only 1,000 yard range in the Vancouver area (Leith,
Hamm interview). Standard military weaponry of the period
included the Lee Enfield Mark IV rifle (.303 calibre), Bren Light
Machine Gun and #36 Mills Bomb pineapple grenade.
In 1939, the Seaforth Highlanders trained for overseas
assignment by marching, led by a Pipe Band, through Vancouver
to the Blair Range (Roy, 55) where they trained with rifles and
machine guns. The Vancouver Regiment, the British Columbia
Regiment, the Irish Fusiliers, and the 15th Field Artillery also
trained at Blair. The range also hosted military trainees from
outside the province. In July 1941, newspapers reported twenty-
two members of the Edmonton Fusiliers were stationed at Blair
Rifle Range, and were called out to assist in fighting a forest fire
in the Seymour watershed. (Medicine Hat Daily News July 19,
1941)
The Vancouver based units participated in significant
overseas battles including Dieppe, Italy and the liberation of The
Netherlands. The number of soldiers potentially passing through
the Blair Rifle Range is staggering when one considers that
181,000 British Columbians enlisted in World War II.
Westminster Regiment alone enlisted 4,236 soldiers during the
war; 134 were killed. (War Diary p 206) The BC Regiment lost
122 officers and men. (bcregiment.com)
There was also time for rest and relaxation at Blair Range
during the war. A long time resident of the area recalls that
women were transported by truck from the ferry at the foot of
Lonsdale to dances at the Rifle Range. (Echoes, p 117)
After the war, the range continued to be used by the
21military for training
666
TO HIS EXCELLENCY
and firearms
L A SON EXCELLENCE
The Right Honourable Roland Michener, C .C.
qualification. “It was
Le tres hono rable Roland Michener, C .C.
GOVERNOR GENERAL AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF
OF CANADA
quite ordinary for us
GOUVERNEUR GENERAL ET COMMANDANT EN CHEF
DU CANADA to go to the range,”
¥.epott of a Committee of the Privy Council ON MATTERS
according to Terry
OF STATE
l\appott d'un comitl: du Coo.seil privt sur Jes AFF AIRES
Leith (interview) who
D'ETAT
PRESENT served during the
PRESENTE
The RIGHT HONOURABLE
Le tres honorable
1950s. The soldiers
THE HOMOURABLE
P. E. TRUDEAU
were required to
L'honorable
P . T. HELLYER
M. SHARP
“qualify” twice a year.
G. J . Mell.RAITH
A. LAING
A. J. MacEACHEN
C . M. . DRURY
E. J. BENSON Responsibility
L. A, J. CADIEUX
for scheduling and
J. MARCHAND
J. N. TURNER
J. CKREI'IEN
B .. S. MACK.ASEY
maintenance at Blair
D. S., MACDONALD
J . C . MUNRO
G. PELLEI'IER
J. DAVIS
S, R.
O. C.
fell to the Military
J ,-E. DUBE
BASFORD
JAMIESON
E. W. KIERANS
R. K.
District. When the
ANDRAS
.; • A. RICHARDSON
range was in use, a red
May it please Your Bxce11ency
Qu'il pla.ise i Votre Ercelleo.ce
flag would be raised at
The Committee, there fore , on the recommendation
the lower end of the
of the f-! inist er of Defence Production, pursuant to the
Sur,;,lus Crown Assets Act, advise that Your Excellency may
be pl eased to authorize the sal e as aforesaid and that
range and a sentry
ui,on provision by the 1'\iniiiter of Defence Produc tion of a
satis factory description of the land and the. easement ,
Latte.rs Patent do issue transfe rring title to the land to
Central Mortgage and Housing Cor9oration r eserving thereout
would stand guard in
the mines and mineral s a nd an easement required fo r the
power line of the British Columbia Rydro and Power Authority.
radio contact with
those further up the
range. Members of
the Westminster
Regiment (Leith
interview) recall using
mortars, rifles and
machine guns at Blair Range. “Run down drills” required
shooters to fire their weapons from the berms in the standing,
kneeling and prone positions before collecting their gear and
running to the next berm. The soldiers must have appreciated the
levelling and filling between the berms by the Relief Camp
workers. While practicing at Blair, soldiers stayed overnight in
the wood heated huts fitted with pot belly stoves. The RCMP
22also used Blair for firearms qualification.
Early residents of Seymour and Blueridge recall that the
sound of gunfire from the range was a regular part of living there
in the early 1960s.
Heavy military use left the land previously occupied by
the Blair Rifle Range contaminated with lead, copper,
miscellaneous metal and possibly unexploded munitions. The
reality of this contamination began to emerge in the 1970s.
Ownership Transfer to CMHC
In 1968, residential development was beginning to
surround the Rifle Range and the military moved to Chilliwack.
The Department of National Defence declared the Blair Rifle
Range “surplus” and transferred it to the Crown Assets Disposal
Corporation.
In 1968, the land’s assessed value was $110,000 and the
DNV Municipal Council attempted to buy it back from DND for
half of that amount. This offer was refused because the federal
government wanted to receive “market value” of over $1 million.
(Memorandum, Richard Parr, Assistant Municipal Solicitor,
September 19, 1996)
On February 5, 1968 the Policy and Planning Committee
of DNV Council met with North Vancouver-Capilano MP Jack
Davis to discuss the property. Minutes of that meeting show that
Council and Davis believed that turning the property over to
CMHC “as soon as possible” would prevent DND or “the highest
bidder” from “sitting on the property” indefinitely, which would
be the “worst development”. The agreed course of action was for
CMHC to apply for the land “as soon as the DND declares it
surplus” and then the District would ask the Province to form a
CMHC-Provincial partnership to develop and sell the property for
housing.
At a meeting held in July 1968 in Vancouver between “all
interested parties”, a request was made on behalf of the Squamish
23Indian Band (who presumably were not present) for the right to
purchase 110 acres of the Blair Rifle Range Property and
establish a new reserve. In a memorandum to Cabinet on
November 1, 1968, Minister of Defence Production, D.C.
Jamieson, advised that “it so happens that the desired portion is
the choicest acreage and comprises the only access road to the
whole property”. Did the parties fear the Squamish would be the
“highest bidder”? Having CMHC take over ownership may have
been a way of keeping the land out of aboriginal hands because
Squamish ownership would “interfere with the proposed
project” .
Jamieson’s memo added “of course, any member of the
Indian Band wishing to purchase land on an individual basis
would be welcome”. Ironically, rumours persist that the Blair
Rifle Range may be part of an aboriginal land claim settlement.
The 1968 purchase price by CMHC for 640 acres of land,
including the Blair Rifle Range acreage, plus four of twenty-two
buildings on the Range was $1,846,500. Cabinet approved the
sale on December 5, 1968. In forty years the market value of the
land appreciated 6,595%!CMHC Ownership
Since the Blair Rifle Range closed, the surrounding forest
has gradually recovered the site. The firing berms can still be
seen on satellite images and parts of the road is used unofficially
as trail. After taking ownership in 1968, CMHC has tried many
times to develop the Northlands parcel and fulfill their
development mandate. Despite Municipal Council and MP
Davis wanting CMHC to become the owner in order to prevent
another body from “sitting on the property”, the latter is exactly
what has happened. For almost 50 years, CMHC has been an
absentee landowner, unable to find compromise between the
community’s demand for slow growth and their own desire (at
times supported by local and provincial governments) to develop
the land. It has often been an acrimonious debate.
24As early as the 1970s, efforts by CMHC and DNV to
proceed with development at Northlands have met with
community opposition. The Blair Rifle Range is only a small
portion of the Northlands parcel and initially the entire 644 acres
was zoned as Urban Reserve for future housing. The citizens of
the Seymour area have repeatedly opposed projects that would
cause the loss of wilderness and have favoured a slow growth
strategy to recognize the transportation and infrastructure
challenges in the community. This attitude has been reflected in
numerous rejections of development proposals by the
municipality. In 1988, CMHC sold the Blair Rifle Range section
of Northlands to a developer, but when they were unable to have
the land re-zoned, foreclosed on the sale. A court ruling found
the developer responsible for municipal property taxes for 2 years
before it was returned to CMHC. In 1995, CMHC took the
District of North Vancouver to court when the municipality
passed a series of bylaws changing the zoning in part of
Northlands to Park, Recreation and Outdoors (PRO), effectively
restricting residential development to only the lower Blair Rifle
Range portion.
DNV won the court challenge but the five year process
left a bitter relationship between everyone involved, an animosity
that persists. Under the terms of the 2003 Seymour Local Plan,
construction of new housing units east of the Seymour River are
limited to 50 units per year, far fewer than what CMHC
envisioned. The by-law approving the new Seymour Local Plan
was adopted in December 2003 and remains part of the Official
Community Plan. In March 2014, citing ongoing transportation
challenges, DNV Council passed a unanimous motion halting all
development in Seymour until 2016.
After the acquisition of the Northlands property in 1968, a
plethora of studies, proposals, court cases and citizen activism
have almost exclusively dealt with issues of wilderness
preservation and urban infrastructure. Aboriginal interest in the
25land emerged during the Seymour Local Plan discussions in 2000,
when the Chief Leonard George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation
asked for the Blair Rifle Range lands for residential development
purposes. (correspondence, Leonard George, June 16, 2000)
Only brief mention has been made of the social and labour history
that occurred during the 1930s at the site. Similarly, its
prominent place in Canada’s military history has been only
briefly acknowledged.
Contamination
Several environmental studies have been conducted on the
Blair Rifle Range land on behalf of DNV and CMHC. Most of
the reports are freely available at the public library. The main
purpose was to determine the property’s suitability for future
housing development after its heavy use as a military Rifle
Range.
Several of these reports have been consulted to understand
the extent to which the property is contaminated:
• Blair Rifle Range Landscape Reconnaissance prepared by
Don Vaughan and Associates, May 1972
• The Villages of Northlands Phase I Environmental
Investigations, Gartner Lee Consultants, May 1995
• Environmental Investigation of the Blair Rifle Range, North
Vancouver, British Columbia, Golder Associates, September
1995
In 2004 CMHC asked Golder Associates to review all of
the previous studies in light of updated environmental standards.
It is not possible to tell if any further testing was conducted as the
report, requested through Access to Information, was highly
26redacted. CMHC refused to disclose the information as it
contained “trade secrets, financial, commercial, scientific or
technical information”. (letter to author from CMHC April 1,
2014)
As a result we are only able to discuss the contamination
issues by looking at the 1972 and 1995 studies. The reports are
summarized in the following sections: Target Area
Contamination, Firing Berm
Contamination, Dump Sites BC Ministry of Environment
and General Debris. Contaminated Sites Regula on
Standards for contaminants
Targets found at Blair Rifle Range:
There were two main Residen al Use Limit (RL),
target structures on the Blair parts per million
Rifle Range; referred to as the
(ppm)
North Target and the South
Target. They were
constructed of reinforced Copper 100 ppm
concrete (Vaughan, p 2) and
Lead 400 ppm
the surrounding area was
covered in sand and sod Zinc 500 ppm
(Vaughan p7). At some point Highest Concentra ons
after 1968, 2,000 cubic
Found at Blair, 1995
metres of soil from around the
North Target was levelled and Copper 12,505 ppm
bulldozed into McCartney Lead 27,307 ppm
Creek as part of the
decommissioning process. Zinc 559 ppm
(Golder, p30-1) Portions of
the North Target’s wooden
structure are still in place and are in remarkably good condition.
In addition to a concrete retaining structure, the South
Target contained a parallel wooden structure and berm soil. By
1995, the South Target had been removed. (Golder, p5)
27A Small Arms Range to the east of the main target range
was used for 22 calibre weapons. The Small Arms Range had a
level firing area, a target to the north and a berm separating it
from the road (Golder p 15). The Small Arms Range target area
was intact at the time of the Golder investigation. (p.12)
When weaponry was used on the range, the bullet fragments or
“slugs” discharged from the firearms landed on or near the
targets. The slugs were 30 calibre (.303) steel or copper and a
chemical analysis showed they were 96-97 percent lead with the
balance copper and zinc. An analysis of 1 cubic foot of material
produced eight pounds of slugs. (Vaughan, 8) Vaughan estimated
that a total 252,000 pounds of lead was present in the combined
target areas.
During its active years as a Rifle Range, the immediate
area behind the target structures at Blair was mined for copper
and lead bullets, but it has not been mined for “some time”.
(Vaughan p 2) Golder (1995) agreed that the bullet fragments
28may have been recovered in the past, but likely only the largest
pieces. (p 11)
Environmental Consultants Gartner Lee conducted a more
intensive study of the target areas in 1995, using hand excavated
test pits and groundwater sampling. (Gartner Lee,p3) Two pits
were dug in the southwest side of the North Target. In one pit
(T5), lead concentration of 9,393 ppm was found. (p16) The
British Columbia Ministry of Environment’s current
Contaminated Sites Standards for put the acceptable limit of lead
in soil for human health protection as 400 ppm. In another pit
(T6), the lead was 265-381 ppm. A test pit behind the North
target found a concentration of 2001 ppm in the upper .3m of soil.
In late 1995, Golder Associates did secondary testing of
the target areas. At the Northern Target, 46 test pits were
excavated by hand and the soil screened and scanned with metal
detectors (Golder p 17) . It found lead concentrations as high as
27,307 ppm and copper concentrations up to 12,505 ppm.
Golder (1995, p 31-2) estimated that at the North and South
Target Areas combined, 9,200 cubic metres of soil was above the
provincial Residential Land Use (RL) criteria. Of that, 2,200
cubic metres could be considered Special Waste which is subject
to more “stringent regulations” (Golder p 13). The Golder Report
identified portions of the former reinforced concrete North Target
structure as well as a possible buried utility conduit. (Golder p 25)
The Small Arms Range, on the eastern side of the access
road, was found to contain 60 cubic metres of soil containing
copper and lead above the RL criteria.
Firing Berms
Seven rectangular firing berms were constructed on the
Rifle Range from which soldiers would aim their weapons at the
targets. Each berm was approximately 100 yards (90 metres)
apart. The three most northerly berms appear to be about 120
metres in length; the four to the south are about 100 metres. The
29tops of the berms are about 3 m wide. (Gartner Lee, p 15)
Secondary roads to each firing berm led off of the main access
road.
Brass shell casings are typically discarded after a weapon
is discharged and left on the ground. Copper and zinc
concentrations are likely contaminants in these areas. (Gartner
Lee, p 13)
Gartner Lee dug one test pit on Firing Berm 6 and found
concentrations of 841 ppm of copper and zinc located up to 150
cm below the surface. The consultants used a metal detector
around Berms 4 and 5 and confirmed “significant metal
concentrations at a distance of up to 20 m on either side of the
berms.” (p 15)
Golder (1995) noted that the firing berms were intact,
“although heavily rutted in places from current recreational use.
There was no evidence found of the access roads to the south of
each firing berm. (Golder p 5) They were likely overgrown with
brush and trees. Golder dug 60 pits around five of the seven
firing berms, concentrating their investigation on Berms 5, 6 and
7 under the assumption that they were the most commonly used.
No pits were dug around berms 3 and 4.
The pits were dug with a backhoe and the soil was
screened and then checked with a metal detector. Golder found
that in addition to shell casings, a large amount of other metallic
trash was present. It also located buried electrical conduit and 50
mm steel pipe. They concluded that contaminated soil from
buried shell casings exists “along a 10 meter wide strip along the
northern edge of the firing berms.” Contaminated levels of
copper, zinc and/or lead were found at all five firing berms. The
highest level of lead was in a test pit at Firing Berm 7, where one
result was 875 ppm. The highest concentrations existed on Berms
5, 6 and 7. (Golder, p 28)
30Eighty-three percent of the soil samples tested from these
three firing berms showed contamination in excess of the
Residential Use criteria.Dump Sites
Grenades or Other Ordnances
The issue of dump sites was first raised in the Vaughan
Report of 1972. The most interesting and unproven allegation is
that a grenade dump exists on the site. Vaughan raises the issue
after a discussion with Mr D.B. Hunnings of the Jericho Military
Base in Vancouver. Hunnings was Commanding Officer of the
Blair Rifle Range when it was decommissioned. He told
Vaughan that:
...the range was used for hand grenade practice at one
time. As with many such explosives, some did not
detonate. These were gathered and placed in a pit north
west of the northern target area and exploded. However,
there exists a possibility that some are alive and buried.
(Vaughan p 2)
Vaughan noted the suspected site of such a dump on his site
map.
The Gartner Lee (1995) reconnaissance performed a
visual inspection of the suspected grenade dump. A metal
detector did not find high concentrations of metal near the
surface in the grenade dump location. (Gartner Lee, p15) It was
not able to further access the location on Vaughan’s map “due to
the trees”. It dug test pits to the south of the grenade dump
location in the area of a suspected landfill.(GL, 12)
In its supplementary report, Golder felt that the
possibility of a grenade dump was “small”, but chose not to
excavate the area. Instead it performed a measurement using
conductivity meters and found conflicting results that may
indicate metallic objects in the area. However, “the potential for
31live ordinance prevented excavating in this area.” (Golder p 28)
Golder interviewed Stan Molinsky, a former Army
engineer who trained at the Blair Rifle Range in 1943. He did not
have any recollection of grenade practice when he was there.
(Golder, p.5)
What is striking about the rumours of a potential grenade
dump is that very little investigation has occurred. Gartner Lee
(1995) reported that they had requested information from DND in
Ottawa (p 12). Golder (1995) consulted five DND staff members
while preparing their report. Their recommendation was that a
specialist be hired to “locate and remove buried suspect objects
in the grenade dump area and provide assurance that further
undiscovered live ordinance does not exist.” Personnel who
trained at Blair Rifle Range in the 1950s told the author that
mortars (weapons that fire explosive projectiles) were also used
on the range.
Presently, the Blair Rifle Range is on a list of over 800
sites in Canada where DND has determined that the potential
exists for unexploded ordinance (UXO). It is classified as “in
assessment” meaning that
DND is reviewing its
historical records to
“determine if previous
military activities [were]
conducted on the site, and
that as such UXO may be
present. If required, further
surveys by sophisticated
metal detectors will also be
conducted.” (Email St
Germain to author, March
11, 2014) There was no
timetable provided for this
investigation.
32Buildings and Landfills
When the land was sold to CMHC in 1968, the Crown
Assets Disposal Corporation stated that 22 structures existed on
the site. At least 13 of these were likely those constructed by the
Unemployed Relief Camp workers between 1934 and 1936 as
the final Works Progress Reports show they were turned over to
the military for their use. Historic photos suggest that these
buildings did not include foundations. Air photos show the
historic placement of the buildings, and Vaughan’s 1972 map also
shows the location of an Air Raid Siren which would date to the
Cold War era.
Only four of the buildings were sold with the site. The
remainder may have been demolished or removed. An air photo
taken in 1974 shows that most of the buildings are gone.
A local resident who played in the area as a child in the
1960s recalls seeing abandoned buildings amongst the
undergrowth. Another states that the firing berms had concrete
bunkers beneath them which teenagers would use as overnight
campsites. Vaughan (1972) suggested that concrete foundations,
electrical and sewer systems may be buried at the site. Gartner
Lee (1995) argue that building remnants and septic systems
would no longer be a problem after so many years (p.13)
Due to the amount of clearing, habitation and demolition
that occurred during the 1930-1968 period, a significant amount
of waste was likely generated. Vaughan identified three possible
landfills and dump areas (including the grenade dump) on his
map. Site drawings from Library and Archives Canada dating to
the 1930s clearly show the location of the Camp garbage dump,
not identified by Vaughan. (See page 6)
Gartner Lee (1995) examined historic air photos and
found “possible filling or clearing activity” between 1946 and
1957 near the sites identified by Vaughan. Test pits were dug at
both these locations and no evidence found that they were used as
33dumps, (p 12) but it is “likely that buried wastes will be
encountered somewhere on the site”. (p 18)
Golder (1995) was unable to see any areas “that were
obviously related to landfilling activity”, (p 6) but noted that
“landfilled domestic waste would contribute to soil or
groundwater contamination”(p.11)
In addition to the landfills and buildings, a considerable
amount of debris was identified by all three reports. It is
unknown if the car parts, demolition debris and random metal are
related to the military period or by later human dumping. No
effort has been made to determine its origins.
Groundwater
Golder’s conclusion was that 12,000 cubic meters of soil
contaminated above the RL criteria exists on the Blair Rifle
Range. Two thousand cubic meters of that amount is classified
Special Waste. Contaminated soil inevitably leaches into
groundwater and streams running through the property. In
addition, large amounts of contaminated soil that were bulldozed
into waterways would add to the concentrations.
Mountain Creek flows into McCartney Creek partway
down the Range. It flows into Burrard Inlet at Maplewood Flats.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans reported in 1998 that
there were elevated levels of lead and copper in the water, creek
sediments and soil in the upper reaches of McCartney Creek
(reported in PSKF p 3), an observation with which Golder (1995)
concurred. The creek and the surrounding land supports many
species of fish, birds and mammals.
Remediation
The Vaughan (1972) report noted that the target areas
were occasionally “mined” by the military to remove lead slugs
which were sold as scrap metal. Vaughan suggested that
remaining lead deposits could be removed by “a summer student
34work camp”. Such a solution is, of course, laughable by today’s
environmental standards. Golder (1995) suggested a pilot project
to treat the contaminated soil on site. There is no indication this
occurred. Contaminated sites in BC are regulated by the
provincial Ministry of Environment.
The use of the Blair Rifle Range by the general public for
recreational purposes is well known. Vaughan (1972) related that
the berms were favoured locations for snowmobiles, skiers, sleds
and cyclists (p2). Later reports refer to the unofficial use of the
site for recreational purposes, including CMHC’s own proposal to
DNV in 1995 which promised to preserve the main access road
as a trail for public use. (villages of Northlands, 1995).
CMHC’s goodwill to the community users of the site
disappeared when DNV re-zoned a large part of Northlands in
1995. During the debate over re-zoning CMHC – a Crown
Corporation – referred to the property as “private land” and called
District staff “trespassers”. It does not pay property taxes to the
municipality, nor does CMHC provide a grant in lieu of taxes.
The tone of CMHC’s interactions with community
members speaks volumes. When a representative of the local
High School Mountain Bike Association sought CMHC’s
,,
permission
in 2010 to
-
.) G :((Jre.§,i::rgll.rtJHiJlt~mtn
, 11ifTiM1 use the c:!,,.luuil,111 • _,...
property
\Jf >l
and I,!. 1rJH'I'. l!tt\j l11' cth>Q
!1~t~}l;~ti~J:~r~\t\flift':}f:r;lub i~~~,~~·rr
l\lHlfll' j.l'
19~f Uluit ;l_~_y,
ll1trrt1L•t!imj.fllttl 1 m1~
Kl1Uh·nt11u E!Hj
t'l-1-7 Hhtir .!llujor Am 'O Spittul
UHi l'1'Ltli1
I~~~tl'~!!! lt;~~~irtJ~:~L~1 ~l~t1 ~!~~;~\Jrr
1t\Lljort.:.U:\Ullll1m1J1b1J
1:irut
maintain
F 1£ S ullh.11111
Jtlr!i. tf.U,a·n S .l:jd~ry
lrt1r Ulrtllmht!'ttPrincipal of the BC Default Management & Real Estate Centre at
CMHC states, “I advised [the mountain bike representative] of
our position that these are private lands, and CMHC does not
sanction any activities on these lands.” He curtly concluded, “I
don’t think we will hear anything further from him”.
(Correspondence, July 7, 2010)
When the author contacted CMHC for background
information for this article, we were similarly dismissed. “No
one here wants to talk about it,” was the response from the Senior
Communications Officer, who also strangely denied that CMHC
even owns the property.
A decaying sign posted at one of the easterly entrances is
the only public advisory to those who use the property daily for
recreation. The sign requires careful reading, and the admonition
against “disruption or removal of soil” can only really be
appreciated by those aware of the property’s history. No effort
has been made to remediate the property, despite advice on how
that could be accomplished. (Golder, 1995) The potential of live
ordnances exists, but even being on DND’s “Legacy Program”
list, no substantive work in this regard appears to have been
undertaken. No one really knows what is or is not present on the
Blair Rifle Range and despite several studies reporting
contaminants being present, the Blair Rifle Range does not appear
on Canada’s inventory of Federal Contaminated Sites (http://
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/home-accueil-eng.aspx).
CMHC has been aware of the contamination and the
possibility of explosives on the site for a very long time, yet has
seems content to wait for a new owner to deal with the problem.
Municipal, provincial and federal governments have not taken a
role in pursuing the issue. The most cynical view is this is a way
of punishing the community for DNV’s actions in 1995. Many in
the community hesitate to approach CMHC as they anticipate it
will draw a heavy handed response.Conclusion
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